Besiege The City (Nashville Part 5)

The lighthouse in Morocco where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. Lighthouses are put in strategic places. We believe Nashville is a strategic place to reach the nations!

*** This is Part 5 of 5 of our story about why we're going to Nashville. It is a supernatural story and we're so excited to be a part of God's work in Nashville! Since writing this post a few days ago, Nashville has had a devastating Tornado rip through the city. Besides the things we mention in this post, we are going to absolutely help with the recovery effort going on in the city. God's love should flow through the hands of those who follow Him. With that said, here is part 5. Please read the first 4 blogs leading up to this for specific context!***

We came out of Bend, Oregon like a slingshot! But not before one more supernatural experience happened. It was Sunday and we had parked our skoolie in a church parking lot for the previous four days.

That morning I (Josh) woke up early, at about six. As soon as I opened my bible, it was like I was being directed by the Holy Spirit. I believe I was reading Joshua. God has shown us over and over again that we are not only to bring the Kingdom of God to people in various ways, but we are also to take back land.

Joshua was the one who learned under Moses and brought the people into the promised land. We believe this is a huge part of what God has called us to do. We are to bring people into the promised land--a relationship with the Father, through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I had been thinking about surrounding a city in prayer and worship for months. I had been thinking on and off about what a modern day Joshua taking Jericho would look like. I remember thinking about RVs, buses, cars, etc. circling a city in prayer and worship. I also felt like the term “occupy the city” applied to this idea. I thought it was my idea... until that morning.

As I was reading and praying, I distinctly heard, “Deuteronomy 20,” in my heart. I flipped there in my Bible and quickly saw there was only 20 verses. This alone was significant because the Lord had spoken to us months before that the vision He had for us would be clear by 2020: 2020 vision!

However, it was 2019 still, so instead of starting at the beginning of the chapter, I started in verse 19. It starts like this, “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it…”

I’m not sure I initially even was able to read past, “When you besiege a city,” before the tears began to roll down my face. The Holy Spirit testified in my spirit that this was confirmation that the term “occupy the city” was not my idea. It has been His plan all along.

We love the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. The people of Judah are outnumbered and scared. The king proclaims a fast and they seek the Lord. His words at the end of the prayer say it all, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

The Spirit of the Lord comes upon a man and he prophesies over the people. The man concludes by saying, “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” There are so many great lessons to learn from this, but without going into too much detail… God wants to fight our battles. He just wants us to know Him and trust Him. When our eyes are on Him, He will fight for us!

We have always desired to see God move like He did in the early church and the Old Testament. He is the same God He was then! He can do it!

Now, we didn’t know what city this game plan was for, but we now know it’s Nashville. He may have us do the same thing in another city at a later time, but we don’t know that for sure. He always wants relationship, and we do too. He wants us to stay connected to His heart so that we know what He is doing in a particular situation or place. It’s a beautiful thing!

There’s more to Deuteronomy 20 that I won’t go into in this post. I’ve read it probably 25 times since October. However, I’m going to finish up with the story of that morning in Bend, OR.

So, I end up taking all the kids into the pre-service prayer while Mary got ready for church and had some prayer/worship time. Mary loves to just worship and be in God’s presence. She is truly like Mary of Bethany. Many times her intercession is just dancing/singing/crying/praying/ministering to the Lord. It’s part of her calling and I know it does things in the heavenly realm that we can’t even begin to understand. She had a wonderful time with the Lord while the kids and I were in His presence with a few others from the church.

God continued speaking throughout the church service, and needless to say, we were filled to overflowing with the Spirit. Not only that, but we were excited and confident of what God was going to do in the future. We are partnering with the Lord in what He wants to do. It’s not our agenda, it’s ALL HIM. Why do we try to do it in our own power? I tried for many years, It stinks! His ideas are so much better!

Ok, so Nashville. Are we going to besiege the city to make war against it? Absolutely! I was so excited to hear that over 700 churches mostly in the Nashville area were fasting and praying for their city and the state of Tennessee in January and February of this year. God is doing something there that is so much bigger than us. We are just doing our part. 

Now, obviously we’re not going to destroy everything in the city, but we are going to tear down strongholds in the city. There’s been books written on this subject, but look at 2 Corinthians 10:4, “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” 

It sounds like a physical war, but it’s not. It is, and has always been, a spiritual war. Jesus came to defeat the enemy in the heavenly places. He made a way for us to step into His victory and see the enemy defeated everywhere we go. Our weapons to tear down spiritual fortresses begin with the Word of God, our sword. Intercession, fasting, acts of justice, redeeming the land, worship etc. are all part of God’s plan for bringing a city back to Him.

Nashville isn’t Ninevah, but God did save that whole city as they humbled themselves in repentance. We don’t yet know the extent of why we are going to Nashville; the Kurdish people coming to salvation in Jesus and tearing down the spiritual strongholds are the pieces God has given to us. 

I know I have said this is blog 5 of 5 on Nashville, but we will continue to write about what God is speaking and doing there in the future. 

Thank you for joining with us in prayer for the Kurdish people and city of Nashville. There’s a new song coming out of Nashville. It is far superior than any song a person could write. It’s the song of the redeemed!

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The lighthouse at the tip of Gibraltar, a strategic location for thousands of years. The mountain on the horizon is Africa.